TFT Set 18 News Log: Launch, Patches 18.1 to 18.4, Unreal Engine and the Standalone Client

TL;DR: Set 18 Enchanted Wilds went to the PBE on July 28, 2026 and went live with patch 18.1 on August 26, the first TFT set on Unreal Engine. Patches 18.2 (September 10), 18.3 (September 23) and 18.4 (October 7) followed, and Riot added an 18.4 B-patch headed October 7. Riot switched off Ranked for 7 hours 30 minutes while it shipped that B-patch. Riot’s end date for Space Gods on the PC League client was October 9. The dedicated TFT client had not launched by October 11; Riot’s support FAQ still says November 3, and Riot’s September 29 post on X ties the launch to patch 18.6.

This page is a dated record of Set 18, built from Riot’s own pages. Each date links to the Riot article or video it comes from. For how the set mechanic works, see the Wisps guide; for the roster, see the champions and traits list; for every date Riot has given for the new client, see when the new TFT client comes out.

Timeline at a glance

Date (2026)	What happened
June 12	Riot announced that TFT would move from Hextech to Unreal Engine with Set 18 on August 26, and that a dedicated TFT client would follow four patches later (FAQ, video)
June 19	Riot’s support site published its Unreal Engine migration FAQ, which Riot has updated since
July 11	Riot released the Enchanted Wilds Dev Drop video
July 27	Riot published the Enchanted Wilds Overview, covering Wisps and most traits
July 28	Set 18 went to the PBE (17.8 notes)
August 11	Patch 17.9, the last dedicated Space Gods patch, confirmed the August 26 live date (17.9 notes)
August 13	Riot’s PBE check-in video covered bug fixes, game feel, and native macOS support later in the set
August 21	Riot published Dev TFT: Space Gods Reviewed
August 25	Riot published the patch 18.1 notes
August 26	Set 18 Enchanted Wilds went live with patch 18.1, on Unreal Engine
August 27 to September 1	Three 18.1 mid-patch updates: bug fixes, then balance changes on August 31 and more fixes on September 1
September 9	Riot published the patch 18.2 notes
September 10	Patch 18.2 went live
September 14	An 18.2 mid-patch update partly reverted the cheaper XP; Riot’s dev video listed the dedicated client’s full launch among its topics
September 15	@TFT posted that 18.2 B was live in all Riot regions (15:53 UTC)
September 22	Riot published the patch 18.3 notes
September 23	Patch 18.3 went live
September 24	The 18.3 B update shipped balance changes and temporarily disabled four augments
September 28	An 18.3 mid-patch update switched off the Major Polymorph Wisp until 18.4, after players used Polymorph Wisp bugs to reach two-star 5-costs early
September 29	Riot moved the dedicated client’s launch to patch 18.6 from 18.4 (@TFT on X)
October 6	Riot published the patch 18.4 notes and the 18.4 Rundown video
October 7	Patch 18.4 went live
October 7	18.4 B-patch (Riot’s mid-patch update), added to the top of the 18.4 notes; PC first, mobile to follow
October 7	Riot disabled Ranked on all platforms at 21:13 UTC over critical bugs and rollbacks tied to 18.4 (@TFT)
October 8	The 18.4B patch went live on PC at 03:49 UTC, with mobile to follow after more fixes, and Ranked came back at 04:44 UTC (@TFT)
October 9	Riot’s end date for Space Gods on the PC League client (Unreal cosmetics FAQ); no Riot page we checked confirms the removal

Coming up: Riot’s dates as read on October 11, 2026

Date (2026)	What Riot has scheduled
October 21	Patch 18.5, which Riot’s 18.4 notes call a smaller, more focused patch
November 3	The dedicated TFT PC client (support FAQ); Riot’s September 29 post on X ties the launch to patch 18.6, which the schedule puts on November 4
November 4	Patch 18.6
November 11	Patch 18.6B
December 1	Patch 19.1, which by Riot’s numbering opens the next set (what Riot has said about Set 19)

The patch dates come from Riot’s TFT patch schedule. Riot says any of them can move and suggests checking the schedule a day or two before a patch, so treat this table as a snapshot of October 11 (08:15 UTC), when the schedule and the client FAQ still matched our October 7 and October 10 readings.

The PBE: July 28 to August 26

Riot’s June 12 FAQ first planned a four-week PBE starting July 14. By the time of the 17.7 notes on July 14, the date was July 28, and the 17.8 notes and Riot’s support FAQ confirm that Set 18 went to the PBE on July 28 for four weeks. Riot published the Enchanted Wilds Overview a day earlier, on July 27.

Riot gave the set an extended PBE because it expected more bugs than usual in its first set on a new engine. Midway through, on August 13, Riot’s PBE check-in video covered bug fixes and feedback, game feel, native macOS support later in Enchanted Wilds, and what to expect at launch. The 17.9 notes on August 11 confirmed the live date: Enchanted Wilds would go live at the end of patch 17.9, on August 26.

Launch: August 26 with patch 18.1

Riot’s summary of patch 18.1 invited players to explore Enchanted Wilds, with Riftbeasts, Elderwood, a Yeti and the new Wisps mechanic. The notes also set out what was different at launch because of the engine change:

• More bugs than usual. Riot said it expected more bugs than a normal launch and asked players to report them.
• Longer loading times at launch, which Riot said it was working to reduce.
• No minimap and no pings. The minimap was removed, and pings went with it. Riot said it would rework pings into a social tool that does not need the minimap, and that this would not be ready at launch.
• No friend spectate at launch. Riot listed it as a long-term goal.
• A large first download. Riot said later patches would be smaller.
• Finishers as video. Until they are rebuilt in the engine, Finishers play as a video, performed on River Sprites.
• Cosmetics arriving patch by patch. Not every cosmetic made the move at launch; Riot said each patch would bring more over.
• New minimum specs. On PC: Windows 10 (version 19041 or later), DirectX 11 and Shader Model 5. On mobile, iOS devices with 2 GB and Android devices with 2 or 3 GB of memory lost support.
• macOS paused. Riot’s support FAQ says TFT temporarily lost native macOS support with patch 18.1, and that macOS was available on the PBE only, on patch 18.2b. Our Mac status page tracks it patch by patch.

Space Gods, Set 17, stayed playable on PC alongside Enchanted Wilds. Riot’s support FAQ said it would last a few patches, and its Unreal cosmetics FAQ, dated August 20, gives the end date: October 9, on the League PC client only. Gameplay changes in 18.1 included the return of the Carousel, units no longer retargeting after crowd control, and missed PvE loot from Stage 4-7 onward carrying over to the next PvE round.

Riot shipped three mid-patch updates in the first week. They fixed memory leaks and other high-priority bugs, including Finishers ignoring the volume settings (August 27), added a loading-screen spinner and brought Double Up back after a bug had briefly taken the queue down (August 28), and then made balance changes on August 31 with bug fixes on September 1.

Patch 18.2: notes September 9, live September 10

Riot called 18.2 the first main patch of Enchanted Wilds, with buffs for struggling comps and a large pass at lowering Wisp prices. The main changes:

• Cheaper levels. Leveling from 7 to 8, 8 to 9 and 9 to 10 each cost 4 XP less.
• Cheaper Wisps. Nearly every Combat Wisp got cheaper, along with several other Wisps, and Field of Mice was removed. The Wisps guide has the full list.
• Balance. Buffs for comps that had been pushed out by reroll and Ahri boards, including bigger buffs to Blackthorn (4) and (6).
• Performance and stability. Riot listed engine work on particle clean-up, load times, frame stutters, memory use and mobile heat.
• Cosmetics. Riot widened the temporary access to older cosmetics by rarity, and each patch’s notes now list the cosmetics converted that patch and the ones coming next.

On September 14, a mid-patch update reverted the cheaper XP for levels 8 to 9 and 9 to 10, kept the cheaper level 7 to 8, nerfed strong reroll carries and several pricey units, and limited Polymorph Wisps to the first Wisp of each planning phase. The same update disabled the Nesting Dolls augment because of a bug and re-enabled the Expected Unexpectedness augment.

Patch 18.3: notes September 22, live September 23

Riot described 18.3 as a more focused patch: smaller, targeted champion and trait changes to lower power ceilings or raise power floors, plus broad buffs to combat augments. It also nerfed a few Wisps Riot called must-buys, toned down 13 Wisps listed under the Blossom trait, raised Coven’s Essence per loss, trimmed the top breakpoints of Hunter, Defender, Invoker and Inferno, and fixed a bug in the augment screen that could select the wrong augment.

The 18.3 B update on September 24 added late balance changes, including Blackthorn and Kha’Zix nerfs, and restored several 18.2 B changes that had been reverted by accident. It temporarily disabled four augments: Challenger’s Grace, Dark Ritual, Infinity Protection and Nesting Dolls (the September 14 update had already disabled Nesting Dolls once). Riot also said it had intentionally reverted an 18.2 champion targeting change while it looks for a better fix.

On September 28, Riot posted one more mid-patch update. Over the weekend, players had found a way to reach two-star 5-costs far earlier than intended by using bugs in a Polymorph Wisp, so Riot switched that Wisp off until 18.4, when the full fix could ship. Riot’s explanation calls it Greater Polymorph and its change line calls it Major Polymorph. In the game data, Major Polymorph is the Wisp that turns one of your 4-costs into a 5-cost; the smaller Minor Polymorph and Polymorph turn a 1-cost into a 2-cost and a 2-cost into a 3-cost.

Patch 18.4: notes October 6, live October 7

Riot published the 18.4 notes and a Rundown video on October 6 at 18:00 UTC, and the patch went live on October 7. Riot calls it a big one: a couple of patches into the set most lines are established, so it takes a big swing at comp variety with trait changes, buffs for struggling 1- and 2-costs and a few nerfs to the dominant strategies. Riot says 18.5 will be a smaller, more focused patch. The main changes:

• Shorter transitions. Combat Arrival and Combat Departure are each 1 second shorter, which Riot says saves just under a minute per game.
• Traits. Eclipse’s first execute now comes after 8 seconds instead of 10. Blossom, Lunar, Riftbeast (7), Sprykin (7) and the Elderwood (7) Deepwood Protector are buffed. Executioner’s bleed, Fae’s per-Pixie bonus, Juggernaut’s durability, Coven’s 130-Essence cashouts, the Elderwood (9) plants and the Elderwood Emblem are trimmed.
• Units. Riot nerfs Veigar, which it calls the best-performing 1-cost reroll line, and buffs Xayah, Rakan, Varus, Kayle and Shen to bring Solar reroll back. Ashe now gets 70% of her mana back when her arrow hits no one, and Draven 50% when his axes hit no one. Lux’s Solar version gets a new damage bonus.
• Augments. Construct-A-Companion, Dark Ritual (with less AP per cashout) and Forge-A-Friend are back. The notes do not mention Challenger’s Grace, Infinity Protection or Nesting Dolls, so Riot has not said they are back. Makeshift Armor I and II can no longer show up at stage 2-1. Riot cut Trait Ladder’s cashouts and published its average placement: 5.22 in Gold and below, 4.24 in Grandmaster and above.
• Wisps. Riot re-enables Greater Polymorph after fixing its bug. All Polymorph Wisps now show up only in the first 2 seconds of a planning phase; Riot lists this as a fix from a mid-patch update (on September 14 the limit was the first Wisp of each planning phase). Polymorph no longer runs on ghost armies, and the Blossom versions no longer favor fielded champions over benched ones. Four new 0-cost Wisps (Drizzle, Grove Armor, Returning Friend and Room for a Shroom) can appear from stage 4-1 to 5-7, only when you hold under 10 gold. Once a player is below 20 health, the game stops offering stat consumables (Knickknacks, Thingamajigs and Doodads), Golden Goose, Major Gambit and Barter.
• Cosmetics. 41 more cosmetics return after the Unreal conversion, and Riot targets 63 for 18.5.
• Fixes. The Solar tooltip now highlights correctly at 7 three-stars, Eclipse no longer shows as a white box on the end-of-game trait tracker, dead dashing champions no longer count as valid combat targets, and Riot lists fixes for server crashes and for fielding a unit at the last second on a high-latency connection.

The 18.4 B-patch (headed October 7)

As with 18.2 and 18.3, Riot put its mid-patch update at the top of the 18.4 notes page rather than in a new article. It was not there when we read the page at about 18:12 UTC on October 7, and it was there on October 10. Riot calls it the 18.4 B-Patch and says it rolls out on PC first, with mobile to follow. Riot’s @TFT account posted it live on PC at 03:49 UTC on October 8 (20:49 Pacific time on October 7) and said Riot still planned a few more fixes that week to bring the same update to mobile; on October 11 the notes page still said mobile was to follow. In short:

• Bug fixes. Weight the Worth could spawn copies of the Golden Egg, some champion abilities could vanish before dealing damage, and Min Max was missing the Golden Magnetic Remover. Coven Acolyte and Dark Ritual are now limited to 1 per lobby between them, and Chosen of the Sun to 1 per lobby.
• Switched off for now. Riot temporarily disabled the Heart of Steel augment to fix a bug, and three arenas for performance: Choncc’s Splash Party, Night Versus Dawn and Bridge of Progress.
• Units. Buffs to Camille (ability 375 to 400 AD at 3 stars), Varus (mana 30/120 to 20/110), Alistar (heal 200/260/320 to 230/300/400 AP, damage 100/150/225 to 180/270/420 AP), Gromp (AP-form splash 160/240/375 to 180/270/435; AD form base AD 45 to 50 and attack speed 0.7 to 0.75), Murkwolf (empowered attack 60/90/135 to 65/100/160 AD), Warwick (damage 215/325/500 to 230/345/535 AD, healing 20% to 25%) and Mama Beak (base AD 55 to 60). Nidalee’s armor penetration now matches her tooltip.
• Wisps. Eight lines, including price corrections for Search Party (3/1 to 1/0 gold) and Three Me (9 to 10 gold), which Riot calls correcting the cost of 2 Wisps. The Wisps guide has all eight.
• Augments. Eleven lines across ten augments: Challenger’s Grace, Giant and Mighty, Group Hug I and II, Heroic Grab Bag, Hold the Line and Spirit of Redemption up; Early Learnings, Electrocharge I and Future Focused down.

The B-patch changes no traits, XP costs or the roster, and does not mention macOS. Every number is on our TFT B-patch page.

Ranked was off while it shipped. @TFT said Riot disabled Ranked queues on all platforms at 21:13 UTC on October 7 over critical bugs and rollbacks tied to 18.4, and said they were back at 04:44 UTC on October 8: 7 hours 30 minutes off, ending 55 minutes after the B-patch post.

Unreal Engine: where the move stands at 18.4

Riot framed the move as a long-term investment rather than an immediate upgrade. Its June 12 FAQ said Set 18 is not a “TFT 2”, should feel similar to past sets, and that Unreal lets the team build tools and tech for TFT alone without clashing with League of Legends updates.

The move also explains part of Set 17. In its Space Gods review of August 21, Riot wrote that Space Gods had once been planned as the 18th set, but was swapped to 17th so that the Unreal migration could be finished by Set 18, which left Space Gods on a shorter timeline than most sets.

At patch 18.4, the migration work is still visible in the notes:

• Cosmetics are still being converted. The 18.4 notes re-add 41 cosmetics and target 63 more for 18.5.
• Performance work continues. The 18.2 notes listed engine-level fixes for loading, frame time, memory and mobile heat, and the 18.3 and 18.4 notes add more stability fixes.
• Pings and friend spectate. The 18.1 notes said neither would be ready at launch. The 18.2, 18.3 and 18.4 notes do not announce their return.
• Space Gods’ end date has passed. The Set 17 extension existed so PC players could keep using their full cosmetic collection, and it relied on the Hextech League client. Riot’s Unreal cosmetics FAQ, unchanged when we read it on October 11, gives October 9 as its end date; mobile never had it. No Riot page we checked confirms the removal.

The standalone TFT client

On June 12, Riot said the PC client would stay on Hextech until a dedicated TFT client arrived a few weeks after launch, four patches later on October 9, with its own extended PBE.

When we read Riot’s support FAQ on September 27, 2026, it gave October 7 for the new dedicated PC client and September 14 for the start of its PBE testing. On September 14, Riot also published a dev video whose description lists the dedicated TFT client’s full launch among its topics.

On September 29 at 16:36 UTC, Riot’s @TFT account said on X that Riot needed extra time to improve the dedicated client and was moving its launch to patch 18.6, from 18.4, the patch it had announced; bug fixes, balance changes and converted cosmetics would still ship with each patch. Our FAQ readings bracket that post: October 7, the 18.4 day, on September 27, and November 3 on October 6.

As read on October 6, October 7, October 10 and again on October 11, 2026 (08:15 UTC), the same FAQ says November 3: the dedicated PC client should launch a few weeks after the migration, on that date, and the client stays on Hextech until then. On Riot’s TFT patch schedule, November 3 is a Tuesday, the day before patch 18.6 on November 4; Riot has not said which of the two days the launch falls on.

As of October 11, 2026, the dedicated client has not launched. Riot’s own post describes one move, from patch 18.4 to 18.6, and our client release date page keeps every date Riot has given, with the day we read each one. None of the Riot pages we checked mention replays for the new client.

What this means for your games

For day-to-day play, the engine move matters less than the patches. The meta has shifted several times since launch: 18.2 made leveling and Wisps cheaper to open up fast-9 play, Riot pulled part of that back on September 14 after Legendary-heavy boards took over, 18.3 trimmed the strongest options, and 18.4 takes a big swing at comp variety with trait changes and buffs for struggling 1- and 2-costs. The comps page lists Set 18 lines from our latest data refresh of October 4, which predates 18.4, so expect its order to move at the next refresh.

Related guides

• When the new TFT client comes out: every date Riot has given for the dedicated PC client.
• TFT B-patch: every 18.4 B-patch line and every Set 18 mid-patch update, dated.
• Set 18 Wisps explained: the rules and every Wisp change from 18.2 to the 18.4 B-patch.
• TFT Set 19 release date: what Riot’s schedule says about the next set.
• What TFT set are we on: the live set and patch today.
• Is TFT Ranked down?: Riot’s Set 18 Ranked and queue shutdowns, timed from Riot’s own posts.

Sources

• Riot Games, FAQ TFT Unreal Migration, published 2026-06-12.
• Riot Games Support, TFT - Unreal Engine Migration FAQ, first published 2026-06-19, read 2026-09-27, 2026-10-06, 2026-10-07, 2026-10-10 and 2026-10-11.
• Riot Games Support, TFT Unreal Cosmetics FAQ, published 2026-08-20, read 2026-10-07, 2026-10-10 and 2026-10-11 (unchanged).
• Riot Games Support, Patch Schedule: Teamfight Tactics, read 2026-10-07, 2026-10-10 and 2026-10-11 (unchanged).
• Riot Games (@TFT) on X: 18.2 B live in all Riot regions (2026-09-15, 15:53 UTC), client launch moved to patch 18.6 (2026-09-29, 16:36 UTC), Ranked queues disabled (2026-10-07, 21:13 UTC), 18.4B live on PC (2026-10-08, 03:49 UTC) and Ranked queues back up (2026-10-08, 04:44 UTC), read 2026-10-11.
• Riot Games, patch notes 17.7 (2026-07-14), 17.8 (2026-07-28) and 17.9 (2026-08-11).
• Riot Games, Enchanted Wilds Overview, published 2026-07-27.
• Riot Games, Dev TFT: Space Gods Reviewed, published 2026-08-21.
• Riot Games, patch notes 18.1 (2026-08-25), 18.2 (2026-09-09), 18.3 (2026-09-22) and 18.4 (2026-10-06), including their mid-patch updates (the 18.4 B-patch, headed 2026-10-07, read 2026-10-10).
• Riot Games on YouTube: Dev Update: TFT’s Incoming Tech Upgrade (2026-06-12), Enchanted Wilds PBE Check-in (2026-08-13), TFT Dev: Full Client, & New Player Experience (2026-09-14) and TFT Patch 18.4 Rundown (2026-10-06); video titles and descriptions only.
• Polymorph Wisp names and effects: Riot’s live game data as published by CommunityDragon, read 2026-10-07 (names and effects only, no values).

Update log

• 2026-10-11: Added Riot’s @TFT posts on X to the timeline: 18.2 B live in all regions (September 15), the client launch moved to patch 18.6 from 18.4 (September 29), Ranked disabled at 21:13 UTC on October 7, and the 18.4B patch live on PC at 03:49 UTC on October 8 with Ranked back at 04:44 UTC. Replaced our line saying we could not tell when the client date changed with Riot’s September 29 post, which our September 27 and October 6 FAQ readings bracket. Added the PC live time, the mobile plan and the Ranked shutdown to the 18.4 B-patch section. Restamped the upcoming dates to October 11 (08:15 UTC); the schedule and the client FAQ had not changed. No Riot page we checked confirms the Space Gods removal. Corrected the August 27 summary: Riot’s notes list memory leaks and other bug fixes that day, not loading issues. Added a Related guides list.
• 2026-10-10: Added Riot’s 18.4 B-patch, headed October 7 (not on the notes page at about 18:12 UTC on October 7, there on October 10), and removed our line saying there was none. Moved October 9 into the timeline as Riot’s end date for Space Gods and put the Space Gods lines in the past tense; Riot has posted no confirmation of the removal. Restamped the upcoming dates and the client FAQ reading to October 10; neither had changed.
• 2026-10-07: Added patch 18.4 (notes October 6, live October 7), the September 28 Polymorph disable, the September 14 Nesting Dolls and Expected Unexpectedness changes, and a table of Riot’s upcoming dates. Changed the dedicated client date to November 3 (Riot’s support FAQ as read on October 6 and 7; it said October 7 when we read it on September 27). Corrected the Space Gods answer: Riot’s Unreal cosmetics FAQ, dated August 20, gives October 9 as the end date, which our last version missed. Linked the new Set 19 release date page from the upcoming dates.
• 2026-09-27: Rewritten as a dated record for live patch 18.3. Removed the pre-launch status note. Corrected the dates: the first version gave August 12 for the live launch (Riot’s June 12 FAQ and 17.9 notes give August 26) and October 9 for the dedicated client (Riot’s support FAQ now gives October 7; the client has not launched yet). Added the launch notes, patches 18.1 to 18.3 and the state of the Unreal move. Removed the Set 19, Unlocks and Vegas Open section, which rested on a Reddit AMA we could not confirm on Riot’s pages, along with the replay-system speculation and the opinion sections.
• 2026-07-14: First version, written after Riot’s Set 18 announcements.

Champion, trait, and cosmetic art (c) Riot Games.